Fluid-pressure brake



(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1.

G. R. JAMES. FLUID PRESSURE BRAKE.

Elm-539,619. v Patented May-21, 1895.

WITNESSES |NVENTUF\= 4w fl (No Model.) 7 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

0. R. JAMES. FLUID PRESSURE BRAKE.

No. 539,619.- Patented May 2fi,\1895.

EWNR

WITNESSES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Patented ay 21, 1895. F1 E c. R. JAMES. FLUID PRESSURE BRAKE (No Model.)

5 E H 5 E N T W TATESI rEEn FLUID-PRESSURE BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 539,619, dated May 21,1895. Application filed August 10. 1893 Serial No. 482,833. (No model.)

To all whom it 14mg concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER R. JAMES, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, and a resident of Jersey City, in the county'of Hudsonand State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fluid-Pressure Brakes, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates generally to the piston valves of fluid pressurebrakes and consists essentially of means for more effectually preventingthe escape of the fluid when closed, for better control of the brakesthan the pistons alone afford, it being impractical to pack the faces ofthe pistons so as to be sufficiently.

free to act promptly without considerable leakage.

My invention also consists of improvements in the duplex brake valvesadapted to facilitate the application of direct pressure to the brakethrough both the main and secondary train pipes in a system adapted foreither antomatic or direct application of pressure, and it consists inan improvement of the auxiliary piston valve of the engineerscontrolling valve, whereby it is designed to etfeot more prompt andreliable action than as heretofore made all'as hereinafter fullydescribed reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure l is a general plan view of the main reservoir usually carried onthe locomotive, engineers controlling-valve, and the auxiliary reservoirand brake-cylinderof a car, with the pipe connections, part of thebrakecylinder being broken out to show the port through which the fluidflows in and out and part of the brake-piston. Fig. 2 is an endelevation of the duplex brake-valve and section of part of thebrake-cylinder. Fig. 3 isa central longitudinal sectional elevationthrough the duplex brake-valve on line as m, Fig. 2, showing both thevalves in their normal positions. Fig. 4 is a similar section showingthe main valve open for the application of the pressure from theauxiliary reservoir by the so-called automatic action. Fig. 5 is also asimilar section showing the secondary valve open for the application ofdirect pressure through both the main and secondary trainpipes. Fig. 6is a sectional elevation of the engineers controlling-valve on line 'yy, Fig.

1. Fig. 7 is a section of the several-way cock of the engineerscontrolling-valve on the same line as Fig. 6, but showing thecockshifted to the position for applying the pressure to the brake-cylindersby the automatic action and through the main brake-valve, as in Fig. 4.Fig. 8 is a section of the cock in the same plane when shifted to theposition for applying direct pressure to the brake cylinder through bothof the train-pipes and through the secondary brake-valve,-asin Fig. 5.Fig. 9 is a section ofthe cock on line'z z of Fig. 6.

For illustration and application of my invention in this case Irepresent substantially the same engineers controlling valve and (luplexbrake valves as are shown and claimed in my Letters Patent No. 524,990,dated August 21, 1894, the description of which I now repeatsubstantially as in that application with such changes as are necessaryto point out the improvements, and I limit my claims in the present caseto the said improvements.

The main reservoir usually carried under the foot plate of thelocomotiveis represented at a, Fig; 1. It is supplied Withair through the pipe I),from the compressor.

The engineers controlling valve consists of the several way cock 0, andthe auxiliary piston valve 07, thereto to which air is supplied from themain reservoir a, through the pipe 6.

fis the main train pipe, and g, the secondary train pipe.

The duplex brake valve consists of the primary piston valve h, and thesecondary piston valve 1', to whichthe main and secondary train pipescommunicate respectively.

j, represents the brake cylinderand la, represents the auxiliaryreservoir on the car between which and the primary brake valve h, thereis communication by the pipe Z.

The cock 0 has the straight way passage m,

through it parallel with the handle 11. When the cock is in the middleposition, Figs. 1 and 6, said passage m opens direct communication fromthe main reservoir a, into the main train pipe f, the inlet to saidpassage being through chamber n, of the auxiliary piston valve (1,between the large piston o, and the small piston 19, of said valve, theformer being to open and close the exhaust passage q, to the chamber 8,and the latter being on its other side open to the atmosphere at t, tocause piston 0 to descend when pressure is equal in chambers 'n and s,and thereby open said exhaust q. The cock 0, also has the branch passage'Lb, communicating with passage m, at ninety degrees thereto and to theright of the handle. It also has the longitudinal central passage w, oneend of which connects with the straight way passage m, and the other endhas an issue 00, at the side of the cock opposite to the branch to, alsoissue a," in the direction of the handle, and midway of the passage to,is a branch y, opening, through the side of the cock said issue w andbranch y beingin the same plane as branch u. There is also the rightangle passage 2, above the upper extremity of the central passage to,one issue of which is at the side opposite the handle and communicateswith chamber 5 through passage a when the cock is in the middleposition, and the other issue is at the right hand side thereof andcommunicates at the same time with the secondary train pipe There is achamber b in the cock case through which issue 00 communicates with thepipe g, when the handle is shifted to the right. There is also a passagey in the case making communication between main train pipe f, and branchy, of the cock when the cock is shifted to the right hand, and also apassage z making communication between issue as of the cock and passage0, when the cock is shifted to the left. Branch u, communicates withthe'main train pipe f, when the cock is shifted to the left, and withchamber '17. when the cock is shifted to the right.

The main train pipefis in communication with the gage a through the pipe6', and the secondary pipe g is in communication with said gage throughthe pipe (1'.

The improvement of the engineers coutrolling valve claimed in this caseincludes the auxiliary piston valve attachment to the several way cockfor limiting the exhaust of the train pipes, also the coiled spring aplaced centrally on piston 0, and between it and the disk 17*, carriedon the inner end of an adjusting screw 0 entering the case of pistonvalve (1 through the head of a stuffing box f and having a hand wheel yfor adjusting it to vary the tension of the spring, the purpose of whichlatter improvement will be explained farther on.

The main brake valve has the large piston f in the chamber g to whichair is admitted from the controlling valve through port 71 by the maintrain pipef.

The piston f has several small valves j permitting'air to pass throughit into the chamber which is in communitation with the auxiliaryreservoir it through the pipe Z. This chamber k is also in communicationwith the interior of the hollow stem Z of the valve through the smallports m admitting a limited quantity of air and said chamber In, is alsoin communication with the chamber 01. of the secondary brake valve 'i,through the opening into the interior of the hollow stem Z. This hollowstem Z communicates through the opening b in its end with the case inwhich the stern works. At 0 is a port admitting air from the caseinwhich said stem Z works into and exhausting it from the brake cylinderj,behind the brake piston b therein, which port is controlled foradmitting and exhausting the air by the piston s of said stem l when themain valve is used for automatic action only. The said stem Z is fittedin a bushing 25 of the valve case having a shoulder 11, whereon acorresponding shoulder 11' of the stem having the elastic packing 6comes to rest when the valve opens the brake cylinder to exhaust, andeffectually prevents waste of air from the main train pipe and theauxiliary reservoir. The piston s has a like shoulder fitted withelastic packing 6 which takes eifect on the end of the bushing t, nextthereto and effectually prevents escape of air from the brake cylinderwhen said cylinder is charged through the main brake valve.

The secondary brake valve has a large piston 70 to which air is admittedin chamber n through secondary train pipe g, and passage g and asmallpiston 9 working in chambers which is in communication with chamberot orwith exhaust port j according as piston g is shifted to one side or theother of port j said piston being shifted to the right of said port byair admitted under the large piston 73, through the secondary train pipeg, and to the left by thepressure of air normally acting on the otherside through passage 0' from chamber 70 of the main valve. Portj is incommunication th rough the end of bushing t with the case in whichpiston s of the main valve works, for exhausting the airfrom the brakecylinder when the main brake valve is used,and for both inlet andexhaust when the secondary brake valve is used. The piston k also hassmall valves a. admitting a limited amount of air through itfrom chamber71 into chamber 02 and the stem b has the passage Z)-e admitting airfrom chamber 11?, into chamber 5- when the valve is shifted to the rightfor controlling thebrake. See Fig. 5.

The chamber 5 for the small piston of the secondary valve is formed in abushing c, in the valve case in which is a shoulder (1 on which thepiston g fitted with an elastic packing 2 closes when the valve comes torest in the normal position for effectually preventing waste of air. Atthe other end of said piston chamber 5 is another like packing f againstwhich the other end of piston 1 closes in like manner to hold the aireffect- .ively when it is shifted to admit direct air to the brakecylinder. A like packing g, is applied to the heads of both valve casesagainst which the pistons k and 5 close when the valves are in thenormal position and effectually cut off escape of air.

The operation is as follows: The cock 0,

passage 0. At 19' there are other larger ports being set in the middleposition as repre- TIO ITS

'ing open thereto.

sented in Figs. 1 and6 air from themain reservoir a, enters throughchamber n of the auxiliary piston valve d, and the straight way pipe andchamber g is then indicated by the passage of the cock 0, directly tochamber 9' of the main brake valve it through main train pipef, andtaking effect on piston f, shifts said valve to its normal position,Figs. 3 and 5, opening exhaust port and permitting: the air to escapefrom the brake cylinder through exhaust ports 7' j for the release ofthe brakes, the secondary train pipe g, being partially exhaustedthrough-cock c and valve d at the moment of setting the cock in themiddle position, so that the secondary valve returns to normal positionleaving exhaust ports j ,j open. At the same time valves j open andadmit air to chamber k and thence to the auxiliary reservoir It; throughthe pipe Z and the hollow stem of said valve fills also,' through ports'm ready for admitting air toj When the brakes are to be again appliedthe maximum pressure the brake cylinder again.

then shows on the gage by the hand represented in white both pipes d andc then bebecause when the pressure falls in chamber .9, to a certainextent it is overoalanced byf the pressure under piston 0, which thenrises and cuts off further exhaust. Owing to the very rapid waste of thecompressed air through very slight openings of escape, it is veryimportant to economize as much as possible in the waste of air foreffecting the partial exhaust through secondary train pipe 9, and owingto the great difficultyof making them in such proportions that pis-- ton0 will not be overbalanced quite sufficiently by the air on the side ofchamber 8, for such action as will effect the movement of the secondarybrake valve, and reinforcing it with the spring a and adjusting stem 0before described, so that when set up for aotion such additionalpressure may be thereby added to the piston as will cause it to act andthen permit it to close again promptly when the secondary valve hasshifted.

To apply the brakes with moderate effect the cock 0, is shifted totheleft hand from the middle position which shuts off the supply of airthrough the main pipe and opens said pipe to chamber 3 of the auxiliarypiston valve 01, through passages to, w and w as seen in Fig. 7. Theback pressure on piston o, depresses it and opens exhaust port q throughwhich the air pressure is so reduced in chamber g The secondary trainpipe is only partially exhausted as above stated:

change of the pointer of the gage c as indicated in black in Fig. 6,communication being then through pipe 6. In this condition the airpressure is reduced in reservoir 70, by the amount admitted to the brakecylinder so that when another application of maximum force may berequired as often happens in cases of emergency it cannot be had, themain train pipe being shut off. To overcome this difficulty and enablefull pressure to be instantly let on to both the auxiliary reservoir andthe brake piston after first application as above described, and alsofor application of maximum force in the first place when required, thesecondary brake valve and the secondary train pipe have been provided,and the cock of the engineers valve has been constructed and arranged inrelation thereto as before described, the operations of which are asfollowsz-Whether the cock 0 be in the middle position or in the lefthand position as last described, it is shifted to the right handposition in which position both the main train pipef, and the secondarytrain pipe are open as will be seen in Fig. 8, the one through passagesu, w, y and y and the other through passages u, w and 0c and chamber bof the cock case. The valve his therefore opened to air under'directpressure from the main reservoir, and the auxiliary reservoir is replen-'ished under like pressure the air entering through valves j, chamber 7aand pipe Z. At the same time air of full pressure enters chamber 71through secondary train pipe 9 behind the large piston 10 of secondarybrake valve '5, and shifts it so as to close exhaustsy and j" by pistong and open communication with thebrake cylinder for air of full pressureboth from the auxiliary reservoir and the main train pipe, and besidesthese two sources of direct air pressure, I have now provided piston 70with a series of small-valves or, which also at the same time admitdirect air through the secondary train pipe, the small valves in piston10 and the passage e 12 thus applying maximum force at will. Beturn ofthe cock g to the middle position opens secondary train pipe g, throughpassages z,'a to chambers wherein the back pressure of the air on pistono of the auxiliary valve depresses it and opens exhaust port q, causing,by escape through said port,

ICO

such reduction of pressure in chamber n that valves a are closed and thesecondary valve is shifted back by pressure in chamber a so that pistonopens the brake cylinder to exhaust through ports 3' j When this takesplace further reduction of pressure and waste of air from chambers 72and s are prevented by piston 0 of the auxiliary valve d beingoverbalanced in chamber a so as to close exhaust port q.

The lever v has the usual spring latch '0 within it pivoted at c to lockit in position by engaging in stop holes 11 part of said latchprotruding at '0 to be depressed when the handle is grasped by theengineer to release the cock preparatory to shifting it.

It will be seen that after the application of maximum force with directaction of airof the main reservoir through the instrumentality of thesecondary brake valve as above described, and when through the checkingof the train the maximum force is no longer needed the lesser force bythe air of the auxiliary reservoir alone may be again applied throughthe primary valve alone as in the first instance. It will also be seenthat when a car fitted with my improved duplex brake valve is connectedin a train of cars having the automatic system only, in which thesecondary brake valve cannot be used for lack of the secondary trainpipe and the contrivances of the engineers controlling valve therefor,the elastic packing of the secondary brake valve will eifectuallyprevent loss of air through said valve and thus render its presence inthe automatic system wholly unobjectionable.

I claim 1. The combination with the primary valve having the large andsmall pistons connected by the intermediate hollow and laterallyperforated stem admitting air from between the pistons to the brakecylinder, of the packed shoulders of the stem between the lateralperforations and the small piston, and adapted to prevent leak along thestem when the valve is in the normal position substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination with the primary valve having the large and smallpistons connected by the intermediate hollow stem admitting air frombetween the pistons to the brake cylinder, of the case shoulder havingthe exhaust port, and the packed shoulder of the small piston seating onsaid case shoulder when said small piston opens the brake port to admitthe air substantially as described.

3. The combination with the brake cylinder port, of the primary valvehaving the large and small pistons connected by the intermediate hollowstem admitting air from between the pistons to the brake cylinder, saidsmall piston of the primary valve controlling said port, the shoulder ofthe case of the valve stem having the exhaust port, the elastic packingof the case on the side of the piston controlling the inlet of air tothe cylinder port and the elastic packing on the side of said pistoncontrolling the exhaust substantially as described.

4. The combination with the brake cylinder port, of the piston valve forcontrolling said port, having the axial inlet passage to the brakecylinder adapted to be normally closed by the end wall of the case, theexhaust port in the shoulder of the case on the other side of the pistonadapted to be closed by said piston when admitting air to the cylinder,said end of the valve case and the piston having elastic packings forthe respective sides of the piston substantially as described.

5. The combination with the primary valve of the secondary valve subjectto be opened by direct pressure through the secondary train pipe, andhaving the large and the small pistons in separate chambers, and thepassage throughthe stem communicating between said chambers when saidvalve is opened by said pressure from the secondary train pipe, saidprimary and secondary valves having communication through the port jsubstantially as described.

6. The combination with the primary valve, of the secondary valve havingthe valves in the larger piston subject to be opened by direct pressurethrough the secondary train pipe, and the passage through the stemcommunicating with the chamber for the small piston of the valve, whenthe valve is shifted by such pressure, said primary and secondary valveshaving communication through the port j substantially as described.

7. In the engineers controlling valve the combination with the severalway cock controlling the train pipes, of the auxiliary piston valveadapted to limit the exhaust from the train pipes, said valve having thelarge piston subject on one side to the air supply for the brakes, andon the other side to the train pipe exhaust and controlling the same,said valve also having the small piston subject on one side to the airsupply for the brakes, and on the other side open to the atmospheresubstantially as described.

Signed at New York city, in the county and State of New York, this 5thday of July, A. D. 1893.

CHRISTOPHER R. JAMES.

Witnesses:

W. J. MoRGAN, S. H. MORGAN.

